Below is our Patrick Wiercioch story that made its debut at DP.com Friday. I wanted to make a clarification to online story, add George Gwozdecky quotes and a little commentary.

To clarify, Wiercioch made a verbal to Wisconsin and was scheduled to become a Badger in the fall of 2009. Now, he will replace inactive incoming freshman David Carle (heart condition) and be a Pioneer this fall, using the scholarship originally pegged for forward Stepan Novotny, who decided to play major junior. (DU will honor Carle’s scholarship.)

I spoke with DU assistant Derek Lalonde on Friday about Wiercioch after getting a tip from a source. Lalonde mentioned that DU coach George Gwozdecky has spoken to Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves — the two were teammates on the Badgers’ 1977 NCAA title team — and there are no hard feelings about Wiercioch’s switch.

“We had a conversation, and Mike and I have an understanding of it all, and how we dealt with it,” Gwozdecky told me.

College hockey isn’t like college football. Teams don’t typically recruit a kid after he’s committed to another program. This seems to be a case of simply wanting to play college hockey this fall, instead of waiting another year. Wiercioch took his three official visits to Michigan, Wisconsin and Denver (November), and obviously realized that, minus Carle, the Pios were in need of a puck-moving defenseman.

He phoned Gwozdecky last week and asked if DU might be interested in replacing him with Carle.

“He made it very certain that he really wanted to be playing college hockey in the fall,” Gwozdecky said. “We, along with a number of other schools, wanted him to play another year of junior hockey and come to us in (2009) . . . He called me and said he wasn’t going to play at Wisconsin this fall, and if we were interested . . .”

Wiercioch had a terrific second half of the season for the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League, obviously impressing the Ottawa Senators, who selected him with the 42nd overall pick in June.

“We were well aware of his dramatic contribution to his team and their playoff season,” Gwozdecky said. “He really developed in the second half of the season. Sometimes it’s hard to project when a guy is going to be ready, but we think he’s ready and he’s bound and determined to play college hockey in the fall, and he’s going to be with the Pioneers. So that’s great.”

The commentary is this: Very nice late pick-up by the Pios. A kid of this caliber is so hard to find this time of year, and DU was fortunate to present the ideal opportunity for Wiercioch. Secondly, let’s just hope he turns out better than former NHL second-round D-men T.J. Fast and Keith Seabrook, who both bolted Denver for major-junior long before reaching their potential. Fast left in January 2007 during his sophomore season; Seabrook about six months later after his freshman year.

ONLINE STORY:
The University of Denver hockey team landed a stroke of good luck Friday when Patrick Wiercioch signed a letter of intent to play with the Pioneers next season.

Wiercioch had a verbal agreement to play with Wisconsin. But when DU defender David Carle left the program two weeks ago because of a heart problem, Wiercioch saw that opening and decided to take it.

Wiercioch visited DU in November. He also visited Michigan and Wisconsin and eventually decided to play with the Badgers.

Wisconsin was deep with defensemen, so Wiercioch switched to Denver for a better opportunity for ice time.

DU believes Wiercioch’s arrival is a windfall. He was a second-round pick, 42nd overall, in the NHL Draft, by Ottawa via Chicago.

“I just think it’s a simple case of how much he developed over this past season and his draft status,” DU assistant coach Derek Lalonde said. “He wanted to get his college career going. He was in search of someone and obviously heard of the David Carle situation. We had an opening and are ecstatic and fortunate to find this kind of player at this time of the recruiting process.”

Carle, 18, brother of former DU star Matt Carle of the San Jose Sharks, withdrew from the NHL draft and left the Pioneers after being told by doctors that he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart that has been linked to sudden death for athletes.

Carle was expected to be taken in the first two rounds of the draft. And he will still attend DU as a student.

I wanted to get this out immediately. Edited versions will soon be at www.denverpost.com/sports and in Sunday’s paper. — MC

By Mike Chambers
The Denver Post

The enthusiasm generated by University of Denver recruit Joe Colborne being selected in Friday’s first round of the NHL draft was tempered by news that another incoming freshman has a serious heart condition and will not play for the Pioneers.

Defenseman David Carle, brother of former DU star Matt Carle of the San Jose Sharks, withdrew from the draft after being told by doctors Thursday that he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart that has been linked to sudden death for athletes.

Among those that have died from the disease while participating in sports are basketball stars Hank Gathers of Loyola Marymount (1990) and Reggie Lewis of the Boston Celtics (1993), figure skater Sergei Grinkov (1995) and University of Massachusetts swimmer Greg Menton (1996).

“I’m really quite fortunate they were able to find it before it was too late,” said Carle, ranked No. 60 among North American draft-eligible skaters. “It’s tough, but I’m just trying to focus on the positives.”
Carle, 18, still plans on attending DU and said Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky told him his scholarship would be honored. Gwozdecky was unavailable for comment.

“I’m grateful to NHL doctors for discovering it, and very happy with the University of Denver for honoring my scholarship and still treating me like part of the family,” Carle said.

Carle’s disease is different than the one that forced former Avalanche forward Steve Konowalchuk to retire in 2006. Konowalchuk has Long QT Syndrome, a genetic disease involving electrical conduction that can lead to irregular heart rhythms.

Denver-based agent Kurt Overhardt, whose clients include Matt Carle, is David Carle’s advisor and informed all NHL teams Friday that David’s promising hockey career was over.

Saturday, however, the Tampa Bay Lightening selected Carle in the seventh round (203rd overall) in the 210-player draft. Carle, who led the renowned hockey program at Shattuck-St. Mary’s High School in Faribault, Minn., to USA Hockey Tier I under-18 national championships the past two seasons, thinks Tampa Bay’s selection might have been a tribute.

“My best guess is my assistant coach (at Shattuck-St. Mary’s), Ben Johnson, is now a scout for Tampa Bay,” Carle said. “I find it funny, more than anything. It’s going to be interesting to get that phone call and see what’s going through their heads, why they did that.”
Incoming Lightning owner Oren Koules pushed for the Lightning to select Carle.

“The kid worked his whole life to be drafted in the NHL, and I didn’t see a reason he shouldn’t be,” Koules said on the club’s website.

Carle has spent the past two days studying about his disease, and has learned a solid diet and only light exercise will give him a chance for a normal life.

He is motivated to help other athletes that don’t know they have it.

“The awareness of the disease is not out there,” he said. “I would like to stress to others that I didn’t show any symptoms and I encourage all athletes to get tested, because usually your first symptom is cardiac arrest, so it’s your last symptom.”

The affable Carle was expected to be taken in the first two rounds. Matt Carle, who in 2006 became DU first Hobey Baker Award winner as NCAA player of the year, was selected in the second round (47th) of the 2003 draft by San Jose.

Matt Carle said in January that his brother is “better than me.”
Carle said his heart condition was first detected at the recent NHL combine and confirmed Thursday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

“Once I got my results I got back and read about the disease online,” he said. “I was real conscious and paid attention to it, and I did notice some chest pains.
“But nothing in my workouts, on or off the ice, did I ever feel like something was wrong.”